Tbilisi police use force against defenders of Sakdrisi, protesters report

The police failed to ensure safety of participants of the action in Tbilisi in defence of the gold mine Sakdrisi-Kachagiani. Instead, policemen forced the crowd from the roadway, said the organizers.

On December 22, Tbilisi hosted a protest action demanding to stop the mining at the gold mine Sakdrisi-Kachagiani (Region Kvemo Kartli). It was attended by students, NGO activists and archaeologists.

The action was held at the house, where the Georgian Premier Irakli Garibashvili lives; the participants tootled plastic vuvuzelas and chanted: "No to destruction!" and "Let's defend Sakdrisi!"

Then the participants went to the building of the State Chancellery. During the movement, they tried to enter the roadway; however, they were surrounded by patrol policemen, who tried to push the column back to the sidewalk.

The lawyer Malkhaz Velidjanashvili, who took part in the action, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that policemen exceeded their powers, since the Georgia's law on mass assemblies provides for a certain order of ensuring public safety. "By the law, they (policemen) were to ensure a free march of the participants and to allocate at least one lane of the roadway for them," said the lawyer.

The march ended without detentions.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.